Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) falls over Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (55) of Sweden as they chase the puck during the first period of Game 3 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Detroit, Tuesday, April 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

DETROIT >> You can add Brendan Smith to the list of players that aren’t a big fan of Boston forward Brad Marchand.

The Bruins agitator drew a tripping penalty on Smith in the second period of Tuesday’s Game 3 of their Eastern Conference best-of-seven first round series.

Marchand thrived in pain on the ice gripping his right knee despite getting checked in the left leg by Smith.

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“It was funny when he was putting all his weight on the leg that got hit (leaving the ice),” Smith said Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena. “It’s interesting when I saw the picture.

“That’s Marchand, he’s going to try to create some stuff, that’s the kind of player he is and he’s kind of lived off that for a long time, that’s why he’s great. It’s kind of funny when you get caught like that and you go down on your left leg and you got your right leg up. That’s how he is. That’s how he plays. It’s worked for him.”

Marchand has been trying to get under Smith’s skin the entire series, but he insists his ploys to do so aren’t working.

“For me I just keep playing,” Smith said. “I’m hoping the refs will start seeing a little more but it’s playoff hockey, that’s what goes on.

“That’s what he does, he’s an antagonizer, he’s kind of like a pest type of guy but he’s one of the best in the league at that,” Smith added. “It’s good that the refs can understand that.”

Boston’s ploy throughout the series seems to be try and get under the skin of any Wing in sight.

“It’s so emotional and the tensions (are) really high and guys are laying everything on the line,” Marchand said. “Things get chippy and guys are playing aggressively and it just comes out in playoffs a little more when you know what’s on the line and what you’re expected to do.”

In Game 1, Milan Lucic speared Danny DeKeyser between the legs. In Game 2, Zdeno Chara squared off with Smith and smiled the entire time as the Wings defensemen tried to engage with him at the end of the first period.

“I don’t like some of the cheap shots here and there,” Smith said. “In that sense I don’t like how (Marchand) plays that way.”

Paternity leave

Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall missed practice due to the arrival or soon-to-be arrival of newborns.

Datsyuk just had a daughter, while Kronwall’s girlfriend is expecting.

Daniel Alfredsson also missed practice.

With those missing Babcock’s top line consisted of Justin Abdelkader, Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi. The second line consisted of Tomas Jurco, Riley Sheahan and Tomas Tatar, while Darren Helm centered Johan Franzen and Gustav Nyquist on the third line. The fourth line had Luke Glendening centering David Legwand and Drew Miller, with Joakim Andersson rotating in.

Xavier Ouellet was recalled from Grand Rapids and was paired with Brendan Smith.

Advice for Franzen

Babcock made one simple statement when asked about Franzen’s struggles,” Get on the inside.”

In his last 21 games, playoffs and regular season, he has one goal, seven assists and a minus-5 rating. In the previous 23 games, he had 13 goals, 16 assists and a plus-14.

Franzen is third on the team in shots on goal through three games with eight.

“Even if I’m not scoring that’s not what I’m doing for this team,” Franzen said on the eve of the first round series with Boston. “It’s not why I go out and play games to score goals. I’ve got a lot of things to do before that. It’s not even fifth on the list, probably, when you go out to a game.”

In his last 30 playoff games since the start of 2011, he has seven goals (one game winner), four assists and a minus-8.

In his previous 51 playoff games from 2008-2010, he had 31 goals (nine game winners), 28 assists and a plus-29.

Jabs at Bruins

“Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon did his “Superlatives” skit on Tuesday and three Bruins were featured on it – Marchand (“Mostly Likely To Play A Pizza Delivery Guy In An 80s Movie About Skiing), Chara (“Most Likely To Be Two Humans Sewn Together”) and Dougie Hamilton (“Easiest To Replicate As A Bobblehead”).

Send comments to chuck.pleiness@macombdaily.com and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com